Supervisor candidates offer up ideas on how to grow economy

Eatmon co-founded Development Group Inc. in 2009. The company has grown and continues to expand.

But Eatmon has trouble finding qualified professionals (engineers, executives) to take Development Group Inc. to the next level. They're not living in Shasta County and when he tries to recruit from out of the area, those job-seekers are wary to move to Redding.

'I do not have a marketable community,' Eatmon said.

Eatmon believes it will take a village to market the North State so the economy can grow. The business community, educators and politicians must be on the same page.

'I think they need to figure out how to work with the different sectors in our community to create a reference-able community,' Eatmon said of elected leaders. 'They need to understand what they can do to support others who are directly affecting the economy.'

Here are some of the views on what can be done to improve the economy from the candidates running for three seats on the Shasta County Board of Supervisors.

District 2

Leonard Moty

Moty is the incumbent for the district that encompasses Redding, the county seat.

Some of the economic challenges facing the North State include the need for a higher-educated workforce. But the area also could use more vocational training, Moty said.

Moty sees opportunity in growing the high-tech sector and is pleased with the Shasta Venture HUB, a business incubator the Economic Development Corp. of Shasta County opened last year.

Like many candidates and elected officials in Shasta County, Moty sees an overregulated business environment and believes it's a major obstacle holding back economic growth. He talks about environmental rules and lawsuits that can suffocate the timber industry.

'We need to support efforts with the city and look for a tax-sharing agreement so we quit fighting about where companies are going to go and instead put them where they will best serve the community,' Moty said.

Jerome Venus

Challenger Venus is a big proponent of legalizing marijuana, which he believes would play a role in growing the economy.

Venus points to the city of Shasta Lake, where the county's only two medical pot collectives operate. Shasta Lake last year collected more than $350,000 from the two businesses in a fee arrangement.

Medical marijuana grows should be allowed but they need to be regulated, Venus said.

'With that tax base we can develop more business,' Venus said. 'We can attract businesses other than hotels and restaurants. . . . I think this county deserves to have (more) living wage jobs.'

Venus talks about bringing more clean industry to Shasta County. As examples, he likes the idea of manufacturers that recycle plastic or make solar panels to fuel the growing alternative energy industry.

'We are chasing our young people away because there are no jobs here,' Venus said.

District 3

Pam Giacomini

The incumbent is a fourth-generation resident of eastern Shasta County and helps run the family's grass-fed cattle business in Hat Creek.

Giacomini said the board needs to continue to comment and support U.S. Forest salvage timber operations after a wildfire.

'So we get those projects accomplished so we can keep people employed in our community,' she said.

She vows to work with regulators to make sure fair rates are being paid to biomass plants, including Shasta Green in Burney.

Co-gen plants like Shasta Green not only provide jobs themselves but the mills that feed them generate jobs, Giacomini said.

Supervisors need to keep a keen eye on Sacramento and get out in front of legislation that could harm economic growth in rural areas like Shasta County, she said.

Giacomini would like to work on an agriculture tourism ordinance much like the boutique winery ordinance the county approved. The winery ordinance has made it easier for smaller operations to establish themselves and Giacomini sees the same positive benefits for agriculture.

Giacomini thinks the county needs to partner with the city of Redding and organizations such as the EDC and Superior California Economic Development District.

'So if there is some conflict between the county and the city, we work to streamline that,' said Giacomini, who also favors serious talks about a tax-sharing agreement.

Janet Chandler

The retired schoolteacher believes the two challenges facing economic growth are the county isn't business friendly and the many taxes, fees and regulations at the state level, which she says are job killers.

'There are too many cases of people giving up because of the permitting process or the hoops they have to jump through. It's not worth it,' Chandler said.

She brings up Reverge Anselmo, the former owner of Anselmo Vineyards near Shingletown, who sold his business and left the area after long legal fight with Shasta County.

'He may not be the easiest man to work with but he was run out of the county and he took a lot of tax dollars with him,' Chandler said.

Chandler said California Air Resources Board rules on truck emissions are hurting the trucking industry and taking away jobs. She also believes the state fire prevention fee is a tax, and more important, it's money that does not go back to the local economy.

'All these taxes and regulations put another burden on those generating income for the county,' Chandler said. 'At some point we need to stand up and say 'no'.'

Mary Rickert

A cattlewoman who helps run the family-owned Prather Ranch, Rickert said there are pockets of Shasta County's economy doing well but overall, the county's economy is not strong and is still struggling to recover from the Great Recession.

'We need to figure out how to put Shasta County on the map,' Rickert said.

Shasta County has to do a better job of encouraging employers to move here or helping those companies that are here grow their business, Rickert said.

'I think one of the things the county needs to be is more user-friendly for anyone who wants to bring a business to Shasta County,' Rickert said. 'We need to facilitate that transition and do whatever we can to make it a positive experience.'

With so many state and federal rules that govern businesses today, Rickert said employers need to be creative. She talks about how working with her husband, Jim, they have helped Prather Ranch develop niche markets that go beyond traditional agriculture.

The county also has to market its natural resources more to bring in dollars.

'Tourism is a big part and also an opportunity. I think we really need to promote Shasta,' Rickert said.

Redding is a medical hub for Shasta County and elected leaders need to focus on growing the area's medical sector.

'We seem to be losing a lot of our doctors around Redding,' Rickert said. 'We need to be able to attract good doctors.'

District 4

Bill Schappell

Incumbent supervisor Schappell wants to promote county growth by attracting new businesses and taking better care of the employers we have and promoting tourism.

'We are talking about Shasta County and we're talking about California,' Schappell said of the economic challenges we face. 'California currently suppresses new business starts with difficult environmental rules and regulations. Small businesses especially can't afford all the difficult issues they have to contend with and the environmental stuff they have to do. It costs lots of money.'

Schappell suggests looking at traffic, water and other impact fees that he says can be prohibitive to starting a new business or expanding an existing one.

Shasta County's Resource Management Department, which includes planning and building, needs to be more inviting and work to put on a positive front for businesses, Schappell said.

'Supply a bulletin that says if you want to do this, this is the requirement and this is what we will request from you,' Schappell said. 'When you walk in there, you know what you are up against. So when you come back, you're not finding out you have to spend an extra 10 grand.'

Schappell believes that scenario casts doubt in a business and erodes the confidence it had in expanding or relocating to Shasta County.

'It would be nice if we can do something to reduce taxes for two or three years to help get your business off and running,' Schappell said.

Steve Morgan

The economy has improved and the county's tax base has grown but not enough to see significant change, said Morgan, who among other commissions serves on the Shasta Local Area Formation Commission.

Morgan favors the board of supervisors partnering with the Shasta County EDC, the Institute of Technology and Shasta-Trinity Regional Occupation Program to train job-seekers.

'We want to show we have the expertise that they (employers) need,' Morgan said.

Morgan said he would work to bring in a large-scale employer, somebody with a national or global presence.

'Someone who would have good paying jobs,' Morgan said.

Walter Albert

Albert believes the economy will grow if leaders work to expand educational opportunities and wants to focus on getting a University of California campus in the North State.

'It's hard to find good, skilled workers and the ones that are good and have the skills are moving out of the area,' said Albert, a small business owner. 'If we brought a UC campus here that would help with the education piece.'

Albert believes the opportunity to get big data, or broadband, in Shasta County would be greater if the area could land a UC campus.

For the record, UC President Janet Napolitano during a recent visit to Redding said a new campus won't be opening in Redding anytime soon.

Albert favors working with the Shasta Builders' Exchange and Institute of Technology to close the skills gap.

'With a good educated workforce we can bring those businesses here,' Albert said.

Like other candidates, Albert said the best way to improve the economy is to cut the governmental red tape.

Wally St. Clair

St. Clair spent years managing J.C. Penney in the Mt. Shasta Mall.

He sees job growth opportunity in small manufacturing, those companies with 10 to 20 employees.

'I think the startup and growing the tech industry is a major opportunity for us,' St. Clair said. 'I think a lot of those companies down in Silicon Valley are getting squeezed with expenses. They are looking for places where they can come and bring some money to their bottom line.'

St. Clair, too, is impressed with the Shasta County EDC's Venture HUB. He said Shasta County doesn't have a lot of discretionary income to spend on economic development so it has to be wise.

'Things that can be done that will help is the county needs to fast track the permit process and make it more attractive to for businesses coming in,' St. Clair said.

Conversations that have occurred for years on a city of Redding-Shasta County tax-share agreement are important, St. Clair said.

'I know there has been some renewed emphasis on those conversations,' he said.

St. Clair believes county leaders need to be creative with economic development.

'We need to think out of the box and I think as a supervisor one of the key components of the job is listening to what people are saying,' St. Clair said. 'I would go into this with an open mind and not a lot of pre-determined agendas.'